Book I. TURNIP. 629 



chiefly resides ; scraping it will be quite sufficient. Justice observes, that it is neither fit 

 to be eaten boiled alone nor raw ; but that two or three of them in seasoning will give a 

 higher flavor than a dozen of other turnips. (British Gardener s Director, p. 159.) 

 3695. Varieties. Those in general cultivation are the 



Early white Dutch 

 Early stone 

 Common round white 

 Large round white 

 Yellow Dutch 

 Aberdeen yellow 



Maltese golden ; an excellent and beauti- 

 ful root 



Green-topped large round white ; skin of 



the crown green 

 Red-topped large white 

 Tankard ; large oblong 

 French (B. Napus, var. esculenta), navet 



de Meaux, Fr. ; small oblong 

 Small round French, petit Berlin, Fr., 



teltarv, Ger. 



Swedish (B.campestris,var. napo-brasrica, 

 Dec), Navet de Suede, Fr.; large round, 

 and a very hardy plant, more valued 

 for field-culture than in gardens for 



3696. Estimate of sorts. The first three sorts are the fittest for early, first succession, and main summer 

 crops for the table. The early white Dutch is proper both for the most early and first succession crops, as 

 is also the early stone. The common round white is highly eligible for the main crop ; and the large round 

 white stands nearly on a par with that, and, if not sown to come in with it, should at least succeed it, as a 

 late summer and autumn crop. In large grounds, portions of the large white green-topped, and the large 

 white red-topped, may be sown for autumn and winter ; but the surest plant for winter consumption is 

 the yellow Dutch ; although constituted to stand intense frost unhurt, it has a fine flavor, and is very nu- 

 tritive. Small portions of any of the other sorts may be cultivated in secondary crops for variety, or to 

 answer a particular demand. The French, or navet, is of excellent flavor. It was anciently used 

 throughout the south of Europe, and was more cultivated in this country a century ago than it is now. It 

 is still in high repute in France, Germany, and Holland. It is grown in the sandy fields round Berlin, 

 and also near Altona, from whence it is sometimes imported to the London market. Before the war, the 

 queen of Geo. III. had regular supplies sent to England from Mecklenburgh. The Swedish, for its large size 

 and hardy nature, is extensively cultivated in fields for cattle : it is also occasionally raised in gardens for 

 the table, to use in winter and spring like the yellow Dutch. 



3697. Seed estimate. For a seed-bed four feet and a half by twenty-four, the plants to remain and be 

 thinned to seven inches' distance, half an ounce. 



3698. Time of sowing. This root can be obtained most part of the year, by sowing every month in spring 

 and summer. Make first, a small sowing in the last fortnight of March, or the first days of April, for early 

 turnips in May and June ; but, as these soon fly up to seed the same season, adopt a larger early sowing 

 about the middle of April. The first main sowing should follow at the beginning, or towards the end of 

 May, for roots to draw young about the end of June, and in full growth in July and August. Sow full 

 crops in June and July, to provide the main supplies of autumn and winter turnips. Make a final smaller 

 sowing in the second or third week of August, for late young crops, or to stand for the close of winter and 

 opening of spring : the turnips of this sowing continue longer than those of the previous sowings before 

 they run in the spring. As the crops standing over winter shoot up to seed-stalks in February, 

 March, or April, the root becomes hard, stringy, and unfit for the table. Make the sowings a day or two 

 before or after the prescribed times for the opportunity of showery weather ; or, if done at a dry time, 

 give a gentle watering. 



3699. Soil and situation. The turnip grows best in a light moderately rich soil, broken fine by good 

 tilth. Sand or gravel, with a mixture of loam, produces the sweetest-flavored roots. In heavy excessively 

 rich land, the plant sometimes appears to flourish as well ; but it will be found to have a rank taste, and 

 to run more speedily to flower. A poor, or exhausted soil, ought to be recruited with a proportion of 

 manure suited to the defect of the staple earth. Dung, when requisite, should have been laid on the 

 preceding autumn ; for when fresh, it affords a nidus for the turnip-fly. Let the early crop have a 

 warm aspect, and the lightest driest soil. Sow the crops raised after the first of May in the most 

 open exposure. 



3700. Process in sowing, and precautions against the fly. Let the ground be well broken by regular dig- 

 ging, and neatly levelled to receive the seed. Procure bright well-dried seed. At a season when the 

 turnip-fly is not apprehended, the seed may be put into the ground without any preparation, either alone 

 or mixed with a little sand ; but in the hot weather of summer, it is advisable to use some cheap and effec- 

 tual preventive of the fly. It appears from a trial of Knight, at the suggestion of Sir Humphrey Davy, 

 that lime slacked with urine, and mixed with a treble quantity of soot, if sprinkled in with the seed at the 

 time of sowing, will protect the seeds and genns from the ravages of this pernicious insect ; but this anti- 

 dote cannot be conveniently applied unless the sowing be in drills. A yet simpler remedy, found by Mean 

 to be perfectly successful, is, to steep the seed in sulphur-water, putting an ounce of sulphur to a pint of 

 water, which will be sufficient for soaking about three pounds of seed. (Abercrombie.) 



3701. Arch. Gorrie, a Scottish gardener of merit, tried steeping the seed in sulphur, sowing soot, ashes, 

 and sea-sand, along the drills, all without effect. At last, he tried dusting the rows, when the plants were 

 in the seed-leaf, with quick-lime, and found that effectual in preventing the depredations of the fly. " A 

 bushel of quicklime," he says, " is sufficient to dust over an acre of drilled turnips ; and a boy may soon be 

 taught to lay it on almost as fast as he could walk along the drills. If the seminal leaves are powdered in 

 the slightest degree, it is sufficient ; but should rain wash the lime off before the turnips are in the rough- 

 leaf, it may be necessary to repeat the operation if the fly begin to make its appearance." (Cat. Hort. 

 Mem. vol. i.) 



3702 Mixing equal parts of old seed with new, and then dividing the mixture, and steeping one half of it 

 twenty-four hours in water, has often been tried with effect, and especially by farmers. By this means 

 four different times of vegetation are procured, and consequently four chances of escaping the fly. Radish- 

 seed is also frequently mixed with that of the turnip, and the fly preferring the former, the latter is allowed 

 to escape. 



3703. Neill says, " one of the easiest remedies, is to sow thick, and thus ensure a sufficiency of plants 

 both for the fly and the crop." But the most effectual preventive on a large scale is found in sowing late, 

 where that can be done ; the fly in its beetle state having fed on other herbage, and disappeared before the 

 turnip comes into leaf. 



3704. Abercrombie directs to " sow broad-cast, allowing half an ounce of seed for every 100 square feet, 

 unless some particular purpose will be answered by drilling. In the former method, scatter the seed reguJ 

 garly and thinly ; in dry weather, tread or roll it in lightly and evenly ; but after heavy showers, merely 

 beat it gently down ; rake in fine. Let drills be an inch deep, and twelve or fifteen inches asunder. In 

 the heat of summer it is of great importance to wait for rain, if the ground be too extensive to be properly 

 watered ; for the fermentation caused by copious rain and heat gives an extraordinary quick vegetation to 

 the seed, which in a few days will be in the rough leaf, and out of all danger from the fly. This insect is 

 weakened or killed by drenching showers, and does no injury to the turnip when much rain falls. It is de- 

 sirable to have the last sowing finished by the twentieth of August." 



3705 Reparation of a destroyed solving. "When a crop is destroyed by the fly, the necessary reparation is 

 immediately to dig or stir the ground, and make another sowing; watering soon, and occasionally after, 

 wards, unless rain falls. 



3706. Subsequent culture. " As soon as the plants have rough leaves about an inch broad, hoe and thin 

 them to six or eight square inches' distance, cutting up all weeds. As the turnips increase in the root, ?. 

 part may be drawn young by progressive thinnings, so as to leave those designed to reach a full size ulti- 

 mately ten or twelve square inches. Water garden-crops sometimes in hot weather. One great advantage 



Ss 3 



